Understanding Paratransit: Examining Time Inefficiencies and the Efficacy of Alternative Modes for Persons with Disability
Many regard paratransit as an effective door-to-door service for persons with disability (PWDs). Yet, recent Mountain Plains Consortium (MPC) research suggests that PWDs use paratransit as a last resort since it often involves sporadic reliability and a high time burden. The research team argues that paratransit is time inefficient and remains a lower tier option for regular trip making for PWDs. Given this inefficiency of paratransit to serve the daily travel needs of PWDs, it is likely that other forms of travel including modified vehicles, taxis, ride-hailing, and community-based services might serve PWDs better. Through this research, the research team will examine the time efficiency of existing paratransit services in the Denver Metropolitan Region. Though scholars have studied paratransit services, there has been little research to examine the heterogeneity in demand. Relying on a dataset shared by the Regional Transportation District, which serves the Denver Metropolitan Region, for over two years of paratransit trips, the research team will answer two questions: (1) What are characteristics of paratransit trips, and how do they differ between various socio-demographic groups? (2) How does the time efficiency of paratransit compare to that of other potential modes for the same trips?
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $200000
-
Contract Numbers:
69A3551747108
-
Sponsor Organizations:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Managing Organizations:
North Dakota State University
Fargo, ND United States 58108 -
Project Managers:
Tolliver, Denver
-
Performing Organizations:
University of Colorado Denver
Denver, CO United States -
Principal Investigators:
Shirgaokar, Manish
Misra, Aditi
Marshall, Wesley
- Start Date: 20211112
- Expected Completion Date: 20240731
- Actual Completion Date: 0
- USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program
- Source Data: MPC-677
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Paratransit services; Persons with disabilities; Travel time reliability; Waiting time
- Geographic Terms: Denver Metropolitan Area
- Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Society;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01789836
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Mountain-Plains Consortium
- Contract Numbers: 69A3551747108
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Nov 30 2021 10:27AM